Elementary school (grades K-5) · Santa Monica, CA

Will Rogers Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Will Rogers Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 34/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 063570006100
0/100100/10034/100
👥 S:T ratio
26
🌟 Gifted program
30
📋 Attendance
46
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Will Rogers Elementary earns 34/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of California schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most California schools.

#5 of 8
elementary schools in Santa Monica · Resource Index
34
Resource Index · Typical
18.6:1
small classes for California
33.5%
free-lunch eligible

Will Rogers Elementary has class sizes smaller than 75% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Will Rogers Elementary ranks #5 of 8 elementary schools in Santa Monica, CA.

Enrollment

522

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

28.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

18.6:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

-13% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

33.5%

vs 55.5% California avg

-40% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Will Rogers Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Will Rogers Elementary

Will Rogers Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Santa Monica, California, enrolling 522 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 18.6:1 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 33.5% of students eligible for free meals.

With 522 students, its enrollment sits close to the California median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 9,998 scored California schools.

Against 1,357 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #507.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (42%) and White (34%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 69/100).

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 21.5% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

Among Santa Monica's elementary schools, it stands alongside Franklin Elementary (597 students): Will Rogers Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (18.6:1 vs 22.1:1).

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified also operates Santa Monica High (2,588 students) and Lincoln Middle (914 students) alongside Will Rogers Elementary.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Will Rogers Elementary compares

Will Rogers Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs California California avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 18.6:1 ▼ 13% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 33.5% ▼ 40% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 522 top 42% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

18.6:1
Leaner classes than 22% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
522
Bigger than 64% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
33.5%
free-lunch eligible - 40% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
18.6:1
students per teacher - 13% below state mean
Top 25% in California - lower ratio than 75% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
21.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$19,713
per pupil, district-wide - above California avg of $16,509
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
3
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.9 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 41.7%
White 33.6%
African American 11.7%
Two or More 7.5%
Asian 4.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 41.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 69.2/100

Simpson diversity index - at 69.2, Will Rogers Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, which includes Will Rogers Elementary.

$19,713
Per student
+19%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+19%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 85.5%
State 8.6%
Federal 5.9%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Will Rogers Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Santa Monica High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Lincoln Middle Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
John Adams Middle Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Franklin Elementary Similar size Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Grant Elementary Similar size Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Will Rogers Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Santa Monica

6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.

Similar elementary schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Will Rogers Elementary's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Will Rogers Elementary

How many students attend Will Rogers Elementary?

Will Rogers Elementary has 522 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Santa Monica, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Will Rogers Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Will Rogers Elementary is 18.6:1, which is 13% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 18% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Will Rogers Elementary?

33.5% of students at Will Rogers Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Will Rogers Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Will Rogers Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 41.7% of enrollment, in Santa Monica, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 69.2/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Will Rogers Elementary?

Will Rogers Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 34/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Will Rogers Elementary rank among elementary schools in Santa Monica?

By Resource Investment Index, Will Rogers Elementary ranks #5 of 8 elementary schools in Santa Monica, CA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Santa Monica on the city page.

Is Will Rogers Elementary a good school?

Will Rogers Elementary earns 34/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of California schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most California schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Santa Monica-Malibu Unified?

Besides Will Rogers Elementary, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified also operates Santa Monica High (2,588 students), Lincoln Middle (914 students), and John Adams Middle (806 students). See the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.